From the Washington Post:
The financially strapped U.S. Postal Service is proposing to cut its workforce by 20 percent and to withdraw from the federal health and retirement plans because it believes it could provide benefits at a lower cost.
The layoffs would be achieved in part by breaking labor agreements, a proposal that drew swift fire from postal unions. The plan would require congressional approval but, if successful, could be precedent-setting, with possible ripple effects throughout government. It would also deliver a major blow to the nation’s labor movement…
First off, I’d like to say I never knew we had 120,000 postal workers. Whenever I go to the post office I see 10 windows and two clerks. Where are the rest?
That aside, this proposal will be fought tooth and nail – Democrats simply do not want 120,000 dues-paying (ie Democrat-donating) union workers let go, not right in front of an election year. Doesn’t matter that the postal service is going bankrupt…all that matters is keeping the dues (donations) flowing. But something does have to be done – and if any Democrat thinks there is an increased postal service subsidy waiting to come out of the House, he’s got rocks in his head (or, more accurately, more rocks than usual).
How this comes out in the end remains a mystery, but get ready for one heck of a fight…bet the Democrats try to tack a postal service rescue amendment to whatever the debt committee comes up with.
Blogs For Victory 
My father in law RETIRED from the USPS 30 years ago.
Today he makes OVER FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS a MONTH pension.
He makes over $$$35,000.00 MORE a year than the last year he worked full time.
and they are broke WHY ??????
Unless you father-in-law is also retired military it is highly unlikely he is pulling down 5K per month for simply retiring from the USPS.
The current median rate for a mail carrier is less than $22 per hour which works out to $44,000 per year. It’s doubtful that your father-in-law in retirement, from 30 years ago is pulling down 20,000 more per year than a current employee.
baldork
well you are wrong…..there are such things as COLAS, and increases.
It matters not what YOU “THINK” I know what the man earns today and I have seen his last pay checks.
he is NOT retired military.
he does draw a disability ABOVE and BEYOND his USPS pension.
where do I sign up for that gig?
The *current* ” median” rate
DUH !!
You are absolutely correct. I retired 10 yrs ago from postal service with 32 yrs and reeive about $2200 a month before taxes.
Neoconehead
Looks like you got found out again as lying. No COLAS get you to 60,000 per year. You really hate unions.
Thanks Jeff
First off, I’d like to say I never knew we had 120,000 postal workers. Whenever I go to the post office I see 10 windows and two clerks. Where are the rest?- Mark
It’s no secret that there are a lot fewer postal workers than there used to be; the size of the agency’s total career workforce plunged 26 percent between 2000 and 2010, from about 787,500 to 583,900. From 2000 to 2010, the ranks of clerks—a category that also includes nurses and motor vehicle operators–nosedived from 291,494 to 164,581.
See Mark. The number of people delivering your mail is about the same. The number of people throwing bundles of mail is about the same. What has been trimmed is the number of people at the window. DUH. Any similarity with a grocery store? Oh, yeah the number of stockers is the same, delivery drivers the same … BUT I see 15 check out lanes with only 3 cashiers.
One could reduce the number of carriers if Congress allowed them to go to 5 day delivery like the USPS requested. They could add a Saturday delivery for an extra charge like Fedex while putting the unwanted ads in your mailbox Monday-Friday.
It’s going to be sweet when the citizens of NY and LA stop subsidizing Mayberry RFD and equal rates for 1st class letters no matter the destination. You don’t think Fedex will also raise rates to rural America with the reduced competition? hahahaha
In other DRUDGE NEWS
In past few decades, the U.S. Air Force has spent untold billions researching and developing a family of stealth fighter jets that are supposed to be generations ahead of any dogfighters in the sky. But after building more than 170 F-22 Raptors and a handful of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, not a single one is available for service. The Air Force currently has zero flyable stealth fighters. None.
The vaunted F-22 has been grounded with a possible faulty oxygen system since May. Production of the last few Raptors is even on hold, because the jets can’t fly from the factory. Last week, test flights for the newer F-35 were suspended, too, because of a valve problem in the plane’s integrated power package. It’s the third time this year that JSFs have been forbidden to fly. Ground tests have resumed, and flight tests may resume as early as next week. Then again, they may not.
Yesterday, the U.S. military committed to spending another $535 million to buy 38 more Joint Strike Fighters — a family of stealth jets that are supposed to become the multipurpose, affordable workhorses of tomorrow’s fleet. Ninety percent of America’s combat aviation power is eventually supposed to come from the jets’ three variants. But the jets have been anything but cheap. The current cost for the JSF program is $382 billion and rising for more than 2,400 aircraft. No wonder just about every major deficit reduction plan scales back the JSF effort in some way.
382 Billion down the drain. And the USPS gets 100 million nowadays from the government and gave all its surplus to the government back less than a decade ago.
baldork
if not for the military there would be no need for mail delivery as we know it.
lay them off, let UPS handle it.
neoconehead
1 billion = 1000 million. 382 billion = 382,000,000,000 = 382000 million.
Maybe the free market is the way to go. Close the USPS and let anyone deliver mail. Yes I can see problems with this to but free competition with no cronies allowed. USPS could still provide a valuble service overseeing companies involved in mail delivery but if they can’t cut it anymore it’s time to close.
As far as the F-35, just cancel it now. Unmanned aerial vehicles are the wave of the future. Even in air superiority. Not only are they cheaper by far there is no pilot to risk in the air.
GMB
UPS, fed ex, do a much better job than the USPS and cheaper.
dump them tomorrow and in one month there would be better cheaper service.
hopefully NON union.
GMB
I don’t mind but the founding fathers thought the USPS important enough for national welfare to put it into the constitution.
Let the USPS decide its own schedule, it’s own rates, … and see if it outcompetes Fedex and UPS. As I said, the USPS has seen the decline in mail delivery and asked Congress if it could stop Saturday delivery. Congress said no. If they were a private company we’d be hearing about regulations blah blah blah.
I can give you a dozen horror stories about how the post office goofed up with my personal service but there is one that everybody will recognize. When you go to any post office there is no listing of the locations of drop boxes so you can find the closest one in your neighborhood. Using drop boxes is more efficient than home delivery and pick up and would cost jobs. Part of their problems are related to massive affirmative action hiring practices.
Part of their problems are related to massive affirmative action hiring practices.
aaannd…………….
unions.
Neoconehead
Is it true that on the civil service exams for the USPS a veteran is given a number of automatic points toward the total score?
Bachmann wiped the floor with the boys, who do you think won tonight? Hawkeyes like red meat.
Bardolf, I am wondering here if you missed that part of the constitution that says “provide for the common defense”???? Now correct me if I am wrong here but did not that part come just a teensie weensie before anything was said about mail service?
We are wasting our breath anyway here. Until we the people put an end to this ourselves we will be boned bigtime. Trusting any politician? Bah… don’t make me laugh.
GMB
Don’t get me wrong.
1. As I’ve said if the USPS goes the way of the dinosaur it will be the red states which are hardest hit by far. Let the USPS become a private company and see what happens. I think Mark and the boys haven’t thought things through very well but that’s my 2 cents.
2. Again and again and again, I am asking what are the proper boundaries for the DOD spending. Daycare centers on military bases overseas is questionable, spending billions on aircraft that are never used is reckless, spending trillions in nation building is bankrupting the US. If the economy got so bad that internal affairs boiled over ala Neoconeheads scenarios, what is there to defend?
“As I’ve said if the USPS goes the way of the dinosaur it will be the red states which are hardest hit by far.”
could you please explain that comment for me?
Raging Bull
1. The red states tend to be more rural than the blue states.
2. Currently a first class letter costs the same to send within New York City as to send from Wyoming to Mississippi.
3. Scales of efficiency say that the letter mailed within NYC is subsidizing the letter mailed from WY to MS.
This is not just theory. Many times people have tried to undercut the USPS by having a local service in a big city. They are brought to court because they are simply siphoning off the more profitable portion of the mail.
4. FedEx and UPS are unable to raise their rates for deliveries to rural areas beyond a certain point precisely because there is always the USPS.
I think the ‘subsidy’ makes sense because it provides a mild form of stability if e.g. a company wanted to relocate to a more rural area. I think rural electrification under FDR was a good thing too even though it clearly was a form of subsidy.
Hey Baldorf. . does that mean that you want to return to other things the founders suggested as well?
Probably not. Bardolf is a contrairian. If we say black he says white. If we say day he says night. If we say the sky is blue he says gray. Its just his way.
I’ve said I’m willing to see the USPS go away. Now what do you have in mind – super-Congress, Patriot Act, federal taking of $ from states which they then return in exchange for taking away state rights, abortion, making corporations into people, fear of standing armies …
I assume you’re not interested in the 3/5 compromise.
What do you have in mind?
Bardolf. Have I voiced any support for this super congress or the patriot act.
I will support the unmaking of corparations as people as soon as unions are treated the same.
Abortion. Read our founding document. Not the constitution. Three things our founders found to be paramount. LIFE was number 1.
Fear of standing armies. Posse comitatus act. I know, just another law. It is a law that weapon carring members of the United States Armed forces take very damned serious.
baldork
start here…….
Neoconehead
Did YOU watch the video? Did YOU notice where Medicare and Social Security got mentioned? LOL The guy is playing a shell game, worrying about the arts and not telling you that medicare and medicaid aren’t part of the constitution and are the HUGE government payouts.
With the boomers about to retire in force HOW do you limit spending growth on Medicare and SS? How do you the 40-65 year old set to lower expectations?
Baldorf, do you even actually have any idea what the 3/5 compromise was or why it was put in?
Ryan
I know exactly the point of the 3/5 compromise. I just said there are some parts of the constitution you’d think were wrong. We have amendments which include the creation of the IRS.
So precisely what do you want returned to the olden days?
Lets face it. Government can not be the end all. It can not be all things to everyone. If they are not going to follow the constitution it is time for this grand experiment to end.
Yes, break up. Succession. Let the left have the west coast and the rest of the blue states and let the right have the red states. You do not like where you are at well you will have to move. Too bad so sad.
Like I have said many times before. Lefties need us a hell of a lot more than we need them. In fact we don’t need them at all. We can survive. the left can not with out our money.
Yes lets break up and in 10 years see which side looks more like north korea.
Given that Obama is from Illinois it would be a blue state. You feel like moving?
I have already talked to the wife about this. Leaving the home that has been in our family for over 120 years would be hard but yes we would leave.
“How this comes out in the end remains a mystery, but get ready for one heck of a fight…” Really??? You mean the fight the repubs put up over defunding bamscare? The fight they put up over the 100 billion in promised buget cuts? The fight they put up over the Start Treaty? Or the fight they put up over the debt?
Yep. They are sure gonna start fighting now. Face it Mark. There is no fight anymore in the repubs on the national level.
I can just see Palin or Bachman getting elected and the cooperation they would get for the three stooges. boener,cantor,mcconnell.